Imperial Tobacco of Great Britain and Ireland Ltd., facing competition at home from James B. Duke's American Tobacco Co., opened a tobacco-buying operation in Durham in 1903 and announced intentions to open a U.S. factory of its own. Duke quickly came to cooperative terms with the British, but Imperial maintained its purchasing and warehouse offices building in Durham form 1915 until 1962.

Upon leaving, Imperial sold the building to the D.C. May decorating company. In 1987, the crew filming the movie "Bull Durham" film crew leased space for production offices and a section of the lower floor served for shooting locker-room scenes.Measurement Inc., wheich is headqquartered in teh old B.C. Powder building(also on Morris Street), bought the building in the mid-2000s.